Toyota is Finally Ready to Add Android Auto to Its Cars

Toyota brought its cars into the digital age when introduced Apple CarPlay in some of its vehicle models early this year. This made a lot of Apple consumers happy, but left the Android-using world grumbling.

If you belong to the disgruntled group, you’ll be happy to know that Toyota has finally agreed to put direct Android Auto support in its cars. Although there’s no official word yet, industry experts have confirmed that an announcement from the company is forthcoming, which may come as early as October.

Most major car brands already have at least some kind of functional support system for Android devices–even niche carmakers such as Koenigsegg has them. So for the biggest car manufacturer in the world to introduce such a widely used technology so late in the game is inexcusable, but better late than never, as they say.

Sure, hijacking Ford’s SmartDeviceLink allowed for the use of Android in Toyota cars, but doing so limited both data access and appearance on the center screen. Toyota might not agree with drivers overriding its software, but it needs to shape up if it wants to stay fiercely competitive. After all, Honda, Volkswagen, and many others embraced both Apple and Android connectivity a long time ago.